The inherited vowel systems of indigenous Andean languages belonging to the Aymaran and Quechuan language families are based on a three-way distinction, in which non-low vowels can vary between high and mid position according to the environment. Contact with Spanish, the dominant language in the Andean region, has contributed to the rise of a five-vowel system which is used in loanwords. When speaking Spanish, speakers of Andean languages tend to be insecure about which vowel to use, and they suffer from social stigmatization because of it. As a consequence, two orthographic practices coexist, which are the subject of heated debate. In one of them, mid vowel symbols (e, o) are confined to loanwords. In the other one, the mid-vowel symbols are also used in native words whenever the phonetic environment prescribes a mid-vowel pronunciation.
1. Introduction
2. The linguistic environment
3. A comparative view of Aymaran and Quechuan sound-systems
4. Persistency of the three-vowel system
5. Writing mid vowels in Aymaran and Quechuan
6. Final word
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